Friday, August 17, 2018

The New Mexico Connection

A few days ago the FBI and local police arrested a small group of people, adults and children, living in a remote compound in New Mexico. The inhabitants were Muslims from the northeast who had moved to the desert several months ago. The ringleader was identified as Siraj Wahhaj, a wanted man for the kidnapping of his own child (who is suspected of being the dead child found on the premises). The adults were charged with child abuse and authorities further believe they were plotting attacks.

I had not planned to write anything on the story until the name Wahhaj triggered my memory, leading me to do some further research and led to me adding this note on the connections between the Wahhaj family
and some better known Americans. The incident also provides a further
illustration of what the “non-partisan” media wants you to know and,
more importantly, not to know.

As noted in some of the coverage, the father of the group’s
ringleader Siraj Wahhaj, is a New York area iman, also named Siraj
Wahhaj. The elder Wahhaj is a follower of Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman ("The Blind Sheik") who is now serving a life sentence for his role in the bombing of the World Trade Center in the 1990s. Wahhaj served as a character witness for Rahman during the trial and was identified by the prosecution as a possible co-conspirator in the bombing. Wahhaj is an advocate for the imposition of Sharia Law and has frequently called for the death of homosexuals.

The Iman Wahhaj has some interesting admirers. One is Linda Sarsour,
the Muslim darling of progressives, particularly progressive women,
despite her anti-Semitic views and outspoken hatred of anyone who
disagrees with her. In a speech given last year to the Islamic Societies
of North America (ISNA), Sarsour referred to Imam Wahhaj as “a mentor,
motivator, and encourager” of hers.

But what prompted my post was another surprising connection, one I stumbled upon in 2016.
It was so startling I initially dismissed it until my further research found the GoFundMe page for the event
discussed in the article. It concerns Ibtihaj Muhammed,
the female American Olympian who competed wearing a hijab and received
glowing media coverage as an example of America’s inclusiveness and as a
rebuke to the “haters.” Here’s just one of countless examples of her favorable coverage.

It turns out the keynote speaker at her 2016 Olympic fundraiser in
Newark, NJ was none other than the Imam Wahhaj! At the time I noted it
as just another example of how the media provides preferential treatment
to those who meet its narrative needs. But when the New Mexico arrests
were reported the name Wahhaj rang a bell with, reminding me of the
connection with Ibtihaj and I did some further research which revealed this 2016 article at Harry’s Place.
There are several websites covering Islam and anti-semitism, some of which have a well-deserved reputation for overstatement and distortion of facts and events, tending to unfairly lump all Muslims together, and which I consider unreliable sources of information. In contrast, I have found Harry's Place to be reliable. Harry’s is a UK-based blog run by left-wingers who
are appalled by the progress and acceptance of Islamists and
anti-semites in British culture and politics and have devoted themselves
to exposing the perpetrators and, along the way, have also pointed out unfair characterizations of Muslims. The article makes clear that Ibtihaj has a long
history of connections with radical Islamists. Some excerpts from the
article, which is worth reading in its entirety.

Unfortunately though, the portrayal of Muhammad as an icon of liberal
progress and tolerance is simply false. As on the contrary, her social
media activity makes it clear she is very politically minded and appears
to have praised or befriended several of the most dubious figures on
the Islamist scene in the US.

For at least the past 5 years, Muhammad has frequently attended and
spoken at numerous events and conventions from an array of organisations
widely acknowledged to be Islamist, and regularly expressed praise,
admiration and friendship for a number of highly controversial
Islamists.

The accounts Muhammad follows on Twitter include Qadhi, Suleiman,
Jangda or Mogahed and various others of similar ilk plus their
organisations such as CAIR, ICNA or the Al Maghrib Institute. She has
frequently praised them all personally, and for several years attended
and spoken at numerous of their events, and just a couple months ago
invited someone as hardline as Siraj Wahhaj to speak at her very own
fundraiser.

There is absolutely no way that is the behaviour of a truly secular
liberal Muslim. Even if she may not share every specific one of their
views, it’s extremely hard to believe Muhammad has spent that long in
and around the same circles as these Islamists that she could be merely
entirely ignorant of their theocratic world view (someone like Suleiman
has openly expressed desire for Sharia at some of those ICNA
conventions).

The Harry's post concludes with a very telling point:

But most sadly of all, this is just another example of the moral illusion the Western Left repeatedly keeps falling for.

Rather than celebrate well integrated Muslims who’ve adopted modern
liberal values, they choose to celebrate the religiously conservative,
and then think they are being progressive in doing so.

By repeatedly failing to be honest about radical Islam, the media denigrates the views and work of Muslims who are open to participating in a tolerant and secular society, and provides ammunition to those who are prejudiced against all Muslims.

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This blog is about music, baseball, history, books, movies and whatever else catches my interest. It'll have new posts on most days. If I ever get any comments I reserve the right to do whatever I please with them since it's my blog.